My first CalStar

by Michael Swartz

Many thanks to all my new and old friends. You all helped to make CalStar 2005 a most memorable experience for both my family and myself. My little ones ran, dug holes, played with other kids and were amazed by deer, played in the lake and drove my wife and I pretty crazy. And I stayed up as long as I could every night enjoying the wonders of space and the pleasures of friendly conversation and shared discovery. It was my first CalStar and I am so glad I went.

We learned a few things about camping and made some notes on the way home about how we could improve our experience. We just don't like those pesky meat bees. We also brought things we didn't need, didn't have things we wish we did, etc.. so we are trying to learn from this experience and do better next time.

The astronomy part of the trip was most memorable for me. It was my first camping trip with my new telescope and I really enjoyed it. My Plettstone 18" performed very well. I saw things I had never seen before and saw my old favorites in a way I had never seen them before. I experimented with the computer, checked out the built in lists, tested the accuracy of the goto and tracking, practiced columating, etc.. Michelle Stone was near by so I was able to benefit from her expertise and support too. It was really great. And to top it all off I drank a lot of hot coco and water Saturday night to force myself to get up early on Sunday so i could catch Saturn. And sure enough I was able get out in the early dawn and binoview Saturn. It was spectacular. It just made me so deeply happy to be able to stand there and see it shining as I stood with with the cool crisp morning air softly chilling my face. Then my wife came out of the tent and shared the view with me. We shared another cup of hot coco as we gazed at it's ringed glory and talked about what a great weekend we had enjoyed together.

The collection of wonderful people, impressive equipment, stunning imaging, amazing skies, breathtaking views, and the pleasure of the outdoors made this a weekend to remember.

Thanks everyone. We'll be back!

Posted on sf-bay-tac Oct 03, 2005 15:14:16 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 14, 2006 20:14:20 PT